Blame it all on the bootlaces
by Megaphone.Kills.You
Summary: A normal day turns into a living hell when Flippy falls down a rabbit hole. His new daily life is ruled by insanity and he has to rely on his darker side once more to rid this other world of evil to return back home. He swears, it's the bootlaces.
1. In which Flippy falls down a rabbit hole

**I thought I could try and write a HTF-fic and well, this is the outcome. For those who don't know me, I am Megaphone. Kills. You. and my English can be pretty weird sometimes and I like to write the word indeed (Don't ask. Just don't.). Not my native language, so I have to look some words up.**

**About the story: First HTF-fic. Flippy is the main character and I have no idea if I should add pairings. Like, seriously. This story is LOOSELY based on Alice in Wonderland. **

**If I wrote something that makes no sense concerning Flippy's personality, please tell me so. Believe it or not, I neither have PTSD nor a split personality.**

**The HTF-characters are humans in this.**

**I am not sure how the plot will progress and I am writing some other stories as well, so expect slow updates... **

**And with that said: Enjoy the story and tell me what you think of it so far and if I should continue ;)**

* * *

**Blame it on the Bootlaces**

Even though he lives all by himself, he has the biggest house in the whole town. Even though he doesn't really need one, he has a jeep. Even though nobody wants to talk to him, he has a telephone. Even though he doesn't like watching TV, he has a giant one in his living room. Even though he doesn't care about the way he looks, he has a mirror in his bath- and his bedroom. Even though he doesn't eat fast food, he sometimes goes to a diner and orders French fries.

He is a contradiction on two legs, covered in pale skin with a shock of green hair on top of his head, partly hidden underneath a (in his opinion) nice hat. And despite the things his therapist says, he is completely aware of all that. That doesn't mean that he does anything against it, because, he doesn't really mind and...well, he can't. It's simple like that.

One would say that it could be easy to change those things with the help of therapist, but he knows that it is just not possible for him. He is a special case.

A nut case.

And one that puts even Nutty to shame.

* * *

Sun rays come crawling through his window. They hit the dull white ceiling of his room, making the color gleam in the pale morning light. From there it travels down the walls, chasing off the shadows of the night, as the fireball also known as the sun raises higher and higher in the sky.

A young man who seems to be in his twenties lies in the bed in the middle of the room, snoring slightly and wrapping the blankets a little tighter around himself every once in a while. An alarm clock sits proudly on a little nightstand, and it rings in the most obnoxious way one can think off, yet the man remains unaffected. Soon, the clock finally gives up and the noise dies down, which goes unnoticed by him.

Somewhere along the travel of the sun, the light falls onto his body and at an instant, the dreams of rainbows and nice fluffy things are shattered and his eyelids fly open, revealing two dark orbs. It's not like the sun hurts his eyes, no; he can't even see it since he has his back facing the window; he just _knows_ that the sun has risen and he _always_ wakes up then. Always. So today's no exception.

A yawn leaves chapped lips and he stretches his arms in a futile attempt to get rid of his tiredness. Ah, home sweet home. It felt good to sleep in his own room again. The reason why he has spent his last nights in a cell has to do with a long story, including amongst other things two thieves, an enraged homeowner and cookies, which had eventually led to a visit in the hospital for the thieves and a nice little trip to the local prison for him.

He pushes himself off the mattress and heads straight for the wardrobe. He rips the clothing closet's doors open and blindly takes out his cloths for this day. Half-asleep, he changes into his usual attire, all the while staring blankly at the opposite wall.

Routinely, he ties a loose knot into his bootlaces that would probably come undone in near future and gets up to take a look at himself in the mirror, without giving a real damn about his appearance.

As he watches his reflection, he randomly notices that he's been wearing the same kind of outfit for over four years now.

It's like the uniform he'd worn as a soldier, just without the sickening blood stains. He wears it as a reminder.

'Oh well.' He shrugs and is about to turn away when he suddenly hears a voice. No, scratch that; it's not a real voice, more like a snarl. He bit his lip to keep back the flood of very colorful curses that shouldn't be mentioned here.

"Hey me, how's it going?"

Not again.

He's been hearing this voice-slash-snarl now for the past five years, and not only is it getting annoying, but even though he'd never admit it, he is scared of it. Not to mention that it is the undeniable proof that he is, indeed, insane.

He knows that keeping quite won't do a thing, so he bravely faces the mirror again and is met with, who would suspect it, an image of himself. For anyone who would happen to see this would think 'Oh. So what?'

But for him, this isn't just a reflection. It's his worst nightmare that has been haunting him countless of nights already.

"F-fine..." he answers the image grins in return, showing off two rows of sharp teeth. "Really?" mocks the reflection. "Then why are you stuttering? Are you nervous?"

"No!" the man replies hastily.

"Are you sure? I think you are nervous." While he himself furrows his eyebrows, the image in the mirror strangely starts laughing, which it shouldn't be doing. "What do you want from me?" the real one finally questions.

"Oh, I just wanted to talk to you." With those words, the grotesque grin melts and is replaced by a supposedly innocent and disinterested expression.

The man isn't fooled by this. "Since when do you talk so casually? And to me, nonetheless."

Cue the returning of the grin. In all those years that they know each other, they only had few 'conversations' and none of them ended pleasant. None. Memories arise, memories he swore to forget, so he quickly averts his attention back at the mirror.

"Aren't I allowed to talk to you? I mean, technically, I _AM_ you."

"But I do not wish to talk to you."

It comes out as a whisper, something that shouldn't be heard, but neither of them can say something without the other one noticing.

"Why not? Tell me, what have I done?"

And finally, the man is fed up. "You still have to ask? You really have to ask?" His voice trembles slightly, and he isn't sure whether it's because of the fright or the rage coursing through him.

The reflection puts on a fake shocked expression, letting out a shriek that is just as false. "No need to get rude, young man!" Then it starts laughing again and in his ears, it's one of the sickest and most disgusting sounds he's ever heard.

Yet he doesn't cover his ears or turn away, though he really wants to.

As the laughter dies down to an occasional snicker, he avoids the gaze of the greenish yellow eyes of his opponent. "Since I feel like being nice today..." he snorted at that "...I will tell you why I am talking to you."

That should be interesting.

"Let me out." demands the image in a voice that leaves no room for argument, and it sends shivers down his spine. But he knows that he can't let it take control.

"Look what mess you got us into last time!" he tries to reason "Those guys were in a coma for weeks! I can't let that happen again!"

A contemplating expression takes over the reflections features. "Yeah, that thing...Next time I'll do better. Next time, they won't survive." It licks its lips as if savoring the taste of blood.

The threat makes the green-haired man take a step back and he swallows, making the mistake of looking directly into the eyes of his mirror image.

_I can't let it happen, I can't let it happen_

"Just let me have some fun, won't you...Flippy?" The voice is tempting.

_Not again._

And with that, the image in the mirror returns to normal.

* * *

Flippy had been eighteen when he had joined the army, the reason why is already long forgotten.

He doesn't remember everything in detail, but he does still remember the screams.

The blood.

The fire.

The pain.

The fright.

It's still vividly all in his mind, though he blocks it out as good as he can. Yet sometimes, he can't keep the memories at bay and horrible things happen.

He isn't sure whatever came first. The PTSD or the split personality? Did one thing cause the other? Not even his therapist can say for sure. Fact is that this other side of him exists.

And it is evil.

Most of the time, he is able to force him back, to keep him from coming to the surface. But in weak moments, in the few moments he remembers, Evil takes over.

And Evil has only one purpose, one that he carries out quite well, during the war and even these days.

Kill.

It's simple like that.

* * *

To sort out his thoughts, Flippy practically runs outside and into the woods. These conversations always leave him restless and agitated, causing a mess in his head.

The occasional walkers on the street who are not discouraged by the fog and the chilly morning breeze scurry out of his way and Flippy can feel their stares burning into his back.

He quickens his pace and tries to ignore them. They have heard what had happened to the two who had snuck into his house at night. And he knows what they now think of him.

After a few minutes, he's already deep in the forest, he leans against a tree for support and he rests to catch his breath.

A quick look at his boots tells him that the knot has, indeed, come undone. He bends down to fix it, but then decides against it and simply continues walking. He has far more grave problems than undone bootlaces.

At least he thinks that.

Until he stumbles.

Flippy is too caught up in his mind to regain his balance in time and the next thing he knows it that he falls forward. His hands look for something to hold on, his fingertips brush the earthy walls of the hole.

And while he falls down, he asks himself what the hell just happened and blames it all on the laces.

* * *

The journey down doesn't take very long and isn't that unpleasant, however, it is ended quite abruptly when his face is met with cold, hard stone.

Ouch.

That _hurt_.

A dull ache spreads through his head from his forehead to the furthest corner and with satisfaction he remembers that Evil should feel the pain as well.

A few seconds pass and his overloaded brain realizes something.

He has fallen down a hole in the forest. A deep hole. There isn't supposed to be stone; at least not evenly stone. This one almost feels like...**marble**. Like a floor.

He jumps to his feet, picking up his hat (that had fallen off) in the process, and takes in his environment. This could be a trap for all he knows. He brushes some strands of green colored hair out of his eyes to see better.

From what he can make out in the dim light, he's inside a circular room, which is already strange, considering that he is underground. The ground to his feet isis indeed marmoreal, the walls are normal earth, with a few roots sticking out. A little table stands in the middle of the room with a key and a bottle on top of it, just a few feet away from him, a mirror with a golden frame is there too and at the far end, there is a small door, too small for any human to go through.

Out of curiosity and to check for possible injuries, Flippy strolled over to the mirror first. Strangely, his right arm feels heavy, like it carries a weight, but despite better judgment, he doesn't look for the cause.

He is standing in front of the glass and his black eyes search for bruises. Yet something different catches his attention. It is tied around his right wrist, like a silver bracelet, but to his horror, he realizes that it's a handcuff.

Immediately, he sealed his eyes shut, and he waits for Evil to come out.

He waits.

And waits.

Nothing happens.

"Evil?" he calls out nervously. No response.

Scared of what he might see, he allows his gaze to follows the chain attached to the handcuff and gasps.

Lying face-down on the ground, is replica of himself, the neon-green hair sticking in every direction.


	2. In which Evil is a pain in the neck

**So here is the second chapter for you guys. **

**Nothing much to say about this one, really, except that it is fail. **

* * *

**Who in the land...**

Flippy has seen many weird things in his life, really.

And ... you know, there is always at least one point in your life where you say 'Okay, now I've seen it ALL.' Or maybe 'This is the strangest thing ever.' And just now, he has reached this point.

The second he laid eyes on this...whatever it was, his instincts kicked in.

So he forces aside his utter confusion about this whole situation and carefully inspected this look-alike to check if it poses a threat. Besides, he can't even be sure if this is really a replica, since he can't see the face.

With a deep breath, he buries his hand in the hair that is so much like his own and tightly grasps it. With one, powerful yank, he rips the person's head up and stares into a pair of green-yellow eyes.

They make a strangely crazed, animalistic impression and Flippy involuntary shivers as he recognizes the face.

Did the fall damage his head?

A snarl erupts from the copy and before he can do anything against it, he feels how his body is pressed against the hard marble. The air in his lungs is knocked out by the sudden impact and no matter how hard he tries to breathe, it just won't really work. He can only take a few breaths.

Ice-cold fingers close around his throat and a vice-like grip slowly squeezes the life out of him. His own hands lie at his sides and for some reason, he has no desire to lift them and see if he can survive this. It's like he lost any common sense and feeling. Not to mention some weird, funny feeling that tells him that everything's gonna be just fine.

While his vision clouds, he looks up to see...himself? himself with a completely insane grin spread over his (own) face.

"I don't know how you did it", giggles Evil (because who else would it be, if not him?) and the giggles grow into maniacal chuckles "but thanks to you, I'm free! FREE!

See, you are weak!

You can't defend yourself against me, you f*cking wimp!

You're pathetic!"

These words stir the anger in him, but his body won't respond.

How stupid. First he falls down a rabbit hole because of those damn bootlaces, just to find out that there is some weird underground place, next he discovers that he's been apparently split into two different bodies and then is strangled to death by Evil? He had heard of better stories than that.

Suddenly the maddening laughter ceases and as Flippy mobilizes his last strength to clear his sight once more, the hands that had nearly killed him slip away from his neck.

With the pressure gone, he can finally breathe freely again. As he sucks in ragged breaths, he looks up to his almost-murderer and a weird feeling takes over. It's satisfaction, amusement.

Evil is choking, he grips desperately at his neck and his sharp nails cut into his skin and leave bleeding scratch marks. His eyes are wide open and he clenches his sharp teeth.

Flippy doesn't know what is happening, but he isn't stupid enough to just sit and stare there. He quickly jumps to his feet and takes fighting stance, far away to be out of Evil's fighting range and close enough so that the chain doesn't interfere, while his eyes never leave the twisting figure on the ground.

An unexpected pain tears through his jar and in a slight panic, he presses his hands on his neck and feels something sticky there. As he retracts his hands to look at them, they are covered in blood.

There is blood trickling down his face and all of a sudden, it's everything he can see. Everything around him is red.

He screams and his body starts to tremble.

Somewhere in the chaos that now reins his mind, there is this little bit of sanity left and this sanity realized something.

The man knows what to do to make the bleeding stop, though, and with the little consciousness left, he jumps onto the look-alike and pries his claws away from his flesh. "What-are—you-doing-?" chokes out Evil and the fury is evident on his face.

"I'm just kind of saving our lives! Self-destruction isn't gonna get us anywhere!" replies Flippy and pins his opponent's wrists against the floor so that he can't mutilate them _both_ further. Then his evil side suddenly wheezes and starts breathing again. For a few seconds they stay like that and it's hard for the former soldier to ignore the warm feeling of his own blood running down his neck.

_Find your happy place... _

He expects Evil to attack him again, like he'd done before (though back then, he had only existed in his mind and Evil never gives up that easily), but nothing happens. He simply stares with wide eyes at him and seems completely speechless.

"Don't you get it?" Flippy whispers as sharp nails dig into his arms, cutting through the fabric of his shirt. "I don't know what the f-"

Whatever Evil intended to say, it is interrupted by a yelp. "What the f*ck is happening?" screeches the psycho and stares in a mixture of horror, amusement (?), disbelief and plain rage at the red stains that form on the sleeves of his own uniform, just where he had pierced his counterpart's skin.

"What's happening?" he rages and grabs Flippy by the front of his shirt. The strange colored eyes had regained their animalistic spark, but right now, they don't scare him.

...Okay, they do.

But he still has some power over his opponent. He won't hurt him. No, he won't do that, at least not without some serious consequences.

It's like some kind of light bulb went on in Evil's head, because he lets go of the fabric again and he simply stares. Nothing else. He just stares. Then he gets up, outs on his hat, walks over to the walls and kicks against them with brutal force.

"All—" Kick "—Because—" Kick "—You—" Kick "—damn—" Kick "—idiot—" Kick "—can't—" Kick "—tie—" Kick "—your—" Kick "—f*cking—" Kick "—bootlaces—" Kick "—properly!"

Dirt lies on the floor and finally, the green-haired original (if you could say so) decided that enough was enough and yanked at the chain. To his surprise, it actually works and Evil growls angrily. "I don't know what about you, but I want to get out of here" the other one says and examines the bottle and the key on the little table further. He picks up the bottle and notices a small tag someone had attached to it.

Drink me, or you'll be stuck here for the rest of your pathetic existence

Well, those are some pretty clearly formulated instructions.

Hm...should he give it a shot? He eyes its contents skeptical.

The time he had spent as a soldier had made him cautious, paranoid almost, so he isn't really sure. This could be poison. "What are you looking at?" demands Evil and snatches the bottle out of his hands.

He opens it, sniffs and takes a sip. "Are you insane?" This was a completely needless sentence, but the man just can't believe what his mirror image just did. "As a matter of fact, I am" said maniac replies and a grin creeps on his face

Then, without a warning, Evil starts to shrink. He doesn't realize it yet for he has his eyes closed, but Flippy does, and for what he has learned, he will follow suit. So he quickly grabs the small key and witnesses as the world around him starts to grow. High, high above him, he believes he can see the exit, or entrance (depending on what you want to see it as). The dot of light diminishes to the size of a pinhead.

When the transformation is over, the currently confused male decides that he's been through enough shit today and falls unconscious.

Just like that.

Maybe the loss of blood from his still bleeding neck has something to do with it as well. Nah, but who cares about details anyways?

Awakening is always a little uncomfortable, especially when dreams sweep over into reality, like now.

It doesn't help that someone is shaking him awake, which can't be even described with the word uncomfortable.

"Huh...?" He blinks a couple of times and half-glares at the psycho he is chained to.

"Come on, I thought you were the one who wanted to get out of here so badly" snarls Evil and drags him up to his feet. He remembers the key and the door he had noticed earlier and strolls over there, magically with the cranky and cursing look-alike trailing behind him.

Anticipating and with trembling hands, he slowly unlocks the door that is now an acceptable size (or rather: now he shrunk enough to fit through it). He wonders what he will find on the other side.

He cautiously pushes it open.

Sun rays hit his face unexpectedly and the brightness of the light temporary blinds his eyes. Not only is there light, but also...wind. He tries to shield his dark eyes with his arms and when he is sure that his eyes have adapted to the light, he lowers his arms and takes a look at the place where he'd landed.

The sun is shining, the grass sways in the gentle breeze, birds are chirping, and in front of him, a whole world enfolds. He and Evil stand upon some sorts of hill from where they have a perfect view over everything.

Down the hill, there is a small village, near a forest. Smoke comes from the chimneys and when he squints his eyes, he can see people moving around. Farther away, there is a sea of colorful flowers and at the horizon, he believes he recognizes the silhouette of a castle.

The sky is a brilliant blue, only covered with few snow white clouds.

All in all, this place looks like some place out of a fairy tale, a lullaby.

"My, my! What do we have here!" laughs out his companion and throws his head back.

Ignoring this, Flippy continues to stare at this new world in wonder. Without really thinking, he starts walking down the grassy hill and drags his other side behind him. He's in a daze. Because this place reminds him awfully of one he'd seen before.

"This is..."

Evil is not the only look-alike, apparently.

"This is Happy Tree Town!"

Isn't he supposed to be underground? Isn't this place supposed to be a room behind a door? So why is the town he had just come from now right in front of him?

He takes another step and stumbles, once again, over his still undone bootlaces.


	3. In which Mr Dumb appears

**Okay, I'm writing this with mixed emotions right now because I'm listening to "Murderer" by Lin Kuanyin, "Candyman" by Aqua and to "Carpal Tunnel of Love" by Fall Out Boy, which all put me in different moods. While "Murderer" makes me all sad and serious, "Candyman" is making me feel strangely thoughtful and happy at the same time, while I associate "Carpal Tunnel of Love" with summer and summer holidays, and I'm all carefree and in an exceptionally good mood (which is probably because the first time I heard that song was on a summer-afternoon after school. To the HTF-video.) when listening to that song.  
****This chapter probably reflects those conflicting feelings.**

**I have good news, dear readers :D I finally have an actual PLOT for this story! More or less, at least. There are some scenes ****that I reeeeeally want to write, so I'll hurry up (but will still try to keep the quality of the chapters as high as possible for someone with a brain like me) and write more. I can already picture it in my head so well :3 And now I feel like including Mouse Ka-Boom into this simply because he's cool. Yo. Like, seriously. But that wouldn't work 'cuz he's dead and everything. Flashbacks? You'll see.**

**And I have started to think about the pairings. You know, if I should write any. I can say that there will be CuddlesxGiggles, simply because it's canon and it's adorable, if I'm feeling like it I will include ShiftyxPetunia (when you don't tell me you really don't want that to be in this story) and I'm debating about FxF. I don't like that pairing too much, cuz I always thought of Flaky as...a guy. Yup. I was mildly shocked to find out that Flaky's actually a female. The paring is kinda cute. In a way. But it'll most likely be onesided in this fanfiction. **

**I warn you. I'm not good at descriptions, so I'll try and draw every single HTF-character that appears in this freakin' fanfiction.**

* * *

**...is the fairest of all?**

As a child, Flippy learned fast that he just wasn't one of those lucky kids.

When his class went on a trip into the woods, he always magically managed to get some injuries from just standing around. Well, it wasn't JUST standing around, because before he could do something against it, someone bumped into him and pushed him in the dirt, a loud sound would startle him and he'd fall quite ungraceful on his behind or for some unexplainable reason, the branches just above his head would break and crash on him.

After pre-school, when he played hide-and-seek with his friends, he got lost on daily basis.

Just when he had more than three friends and developed his first crush, his parents divorced and he moved far, far away with his mother.

In school, when he forgot his homework, the teachers checked personally if everyone had finished their work.

When he was about to write an important exam, he broke his right hand. And he was right-handed.

He wasn't doing anything, it just kinda...happened.

The war had been the biggest disaster of his whole damn life and Evil never failed to remind him of that.

Later, when he returned home after the war, he had hoped his misfortune would finally come to an end, or it would get tired of him and start bothering someone else.

But it seemed that he quite entertained misfortune.

He found out that everyone that he had even come close to in his childhood had disappeared under mysterious circumstances and that meant that he practically knew no one in his home town. Not a single person. Well, he did recognize some, but his former friends? Nope. All gone.

While he was happy that they wouldn't need to see him...'flipped out', you can imagine the feeling of loneliness when no one was there to welcome him back.

"You can't count on friends. Friends will hold you back, they will break you" Evil sometimes whispers into his ear and Flippy started believing him.

And he swore he would never ever again come close to anyone because he knew that they would just drop dead and leave him behind.

Like they always did.

* * *

As he rolls down the hill, he notes kind of amused that he is dragging Evil along and Evil obviously does not like the situation he is now in, cussing and screaming behind him.

He then realizes just what is happening, but it is far too late to stop spinning now and he silently prays that he wouldn't get hurt as this strange world is turned upside-down again and again and again...he's getting really sick from it.

Evil shouts something along the lines of "You pathetic wimp!", before his face gets pushed into the grassy hillside once again and his better half suddenly feels very light-headed.

And all of the sudden, the spinning stops and both Flippy and Evil feel the jerk on the chain, as the evil one continues to fall.

Dazed and confused, the green-haired ex-soldier lifts his head to look at what stopped his 'journey' and he blocks out Evil's curses.

A man is standing in front of him, his left foot resting on Flippy's side, keeping him where he is.

The stranger is tall, taller than him probably and quite skinny. He has a long, thin face, cropped blue hair and is a few years older than him, somewhere around his thirties. He seems strangely familiar, especially the surprised and somewhat dumb look this guy is regarding him with.

"Huh? Who are you?" Mr. Dumb asks and tilts his head to the side. He seems to contemplate something, then grabs the caught off-guard man on the ground by the hand and pulls him up. Still feeling sick, he replies sluggish "M-My name is Flip...Flippy...and you?"

"Nice to meet you, Flippy! I'm Lumpy" Lumpy says happily. He curiously peers over the new arriver's shoulder and exclaims "Oh, and who's your friend over there? And..." with a slightly...peeved look at his wrist "...why are yo guys chained together?"

Flippy, having completely forgotten about Evil, whirls around to see Evil still lying in the grass, his fingernails digging into the earth and he shoots him the nastiest glare he's ever seen. He involuntary shivers, but this...Lumpy doesn't even seem to notice his discomfort and still looks at him questionably.

"Uhm...you may call him...uhm" Before he can dub Evil as 'Carl', the madman growls out "Evil..." He gets up slowly, very, very slowly, his green eyes never leaving the other two and he spits out some mud. His eyes are wide open and dart between Flippy and Lumpy at a fast pace, as if he can't settle on which one to kill first. His hands twitch in anticipation, but otherwise he stays there motionless, simply watching.

Now is the time the blue-haired fellow starts to feel uneasy as well, Flippy can tell. He too is unnerved, but he knows that Evil wouldn't be able to hurt him. Evil is, after all, a sadist, not a masochist.

Out of nowhere, the original feels a sudden, but familiar tug at the edge of his consciousness and he realizes that Evil tries to claim the control to rip this stranger into little pieces. He wants to see innards littering the ground, blood dying his uniform red and he wants to hear the agonized screams of his victim, but the leash, Flippy, is holding him back. And so Evil tugs.

It's actually a lot like a really nasty stabbing headache, and he struggles to keep his opponent from overpowering him. In their current predicament, he fears what possible effects this could have if it does happen. And he doesn't want any more people to suffer one of his 'fits'.

Fortunately, the impulse to kill wasn't triggered by any memories, and so, after a few moments of the silent battle, the evil side is defeated and Flippy feels the dark presence retreat and linger ever so slightly, as the only reminder that Evil is still there, somewhere in his head.

An animalistic snarl emerges from the defeated side's throat and Lumpy, who watched the two chained men, lets out a dragged "Uh..." before shaking his head and leaving.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going!" shouts the former soldier and begins running after the strange guy.

"Don't follow him, you fool!" Evil interferes and the other one halts to turn around. "He could be leading us right into a trap! He is trying to fool us! Can't you feel it?" His deep voice is unnaturally shrill and laced with hatred and he grips Flippy by the shoulders, shaking him in a fit of fury.

He in return gets a hold on his nightmare's arms and rips them away from his body. "That guy is not our enemy! He can probably tell us where the hell we are and you scared him away! Besides, he appears to be pretty stupid!" Flippy tries to reason and he resumes his run after Mr Dumb, making sure to not step on his cursed bootlaces once again. "Appearances are deceiving, you idiot!"

The nearer he comes to the village, the more he recognizes the similarities between the town on the surface and the one down...here, wherever that is. The architecture of the houses is practically the same, reminding the watcher of trees somehow.

"Hey, Lumpy, wait for m-_us_!"

Finally the figure turns to them and Lumpy raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh yeah, I kinda forgot about you two..." he drawls, shrugs, and continues walking through the broad streets. This time, he waits up for Flippy and Evil, though hesitatingly. "Where are you bringing us?" questions Evil suspiciously and Lumpy answers "To them."

"And...Who are they?" The green-yellow eyes narrow in suppressed lust to kill.

"They're something like the leaders here and I'll bring you there 'cause they'll know what to do with you" he elaborates and kicks a small pebble across the street. After that it stays quiet between the three men, save for the tallest one's carefree whistling.

* * *

Few people cross their path and they don't seem too surprised to see them. "Two at once? That's unusual. Are they twins?" a man with flaming red hair whispers to the woman besides him and she stares at the uniforms the new arrivers are wearing. "They even wear the same clothing! Army uniforms...and those hats! I wonder, do yo think..."

The rest of her sentence is cut off by the annoyed growling of Evil and the pair flinches and hurries past them. "Stupid f*cks. And those hats are called BERETTS!" he bellows after them.

The green-haired male twitches yet again and the chain jingles metallically at the motion. Flippy glances at his other half and receives a demented grin in return, so he quickly averts his gaze at the concrete beneath his feet and tries not to step on the cracks.

The sun slowly lowers and the sky turns a golden color, then red, as the trio makes its way through small town and one slowly loses faith in Lumpy as they pass the same building, a pet shop, for the third time. It is getting tiring, and it's chilly outside.

"Aha!" their guide finally exclaims triumphantly, a big smile on his face and he points to a small, cozy looking house. "That's where they are! ...I think."

Humming, Lumpy rings the doorbell and Flippy feels like Evil's distrust affects him, because he grows anxious at the sound of approaching footsteps and moves unconscious closer to his other personality.

As the door opens, it reveals a girl with long, flowing blue hair and for some weird reason some of it was a lighter shade than the rest, and round, black eyes, dressed in an also blue summer-dress. A lone, pink flower adorns her hair.

She as well reminds the ex-soldier of someone he used to know. What is going on in this Happy Tree Town-replica?

"Lumpy, what took you so long? Sheesh. We already thought you got lost or something" she starts rambling while stepping aside for her (apparently) friend to come in and is about to close the door again.

It takes Lumpy a moment, but he then shouts "Wait, wait! I found another two ones! They arrived today!" and puts his arm through the small gap, takes Flippy by the arm and pulls both him and his counterpart inside. The female shrieks in surprise and both flinch.

_Ah, memories, the memories..._

* * *

"Flippy and Evil, wasn't it?" Lumpy more or less introduces them, and Flippy puts on a smile to make a good first impression and waves at the girl. The smile gets a little strained as he feels the tugging again.

"Nice to meet you! What's your name, if I may ask?" he greets her politely and she eyes him skeptically. "I'm Petunia" she eventually responds and her doubtful expression melts into a delighted one as she too waves at him.

As she turns to Evil, however, she gasps and backs away.

Flippy laughs nervously and hastily says "Oh, don't worry. He won't cause trouble as long as I am around." And he held up his wrist with the handcuff, implying that this event would never (though he certainly hoped that one day it would) take place. If anything, this only unsettled Petunia even further.

'Way to go Flippy. Way to go.' He thinks grimly and lowered his arm again. "Anyways" the girl tries to change the subject. "So...where did you come from? The rabbit hole? The river? Or perhaps you went into the cave?" she inquires casually, like it is an every-day thing for her to ask when meeting someone for the first time. "Rabbit hole" he answers curtly.

She nods understanding and Lumpy gives him a thumbs-up. "Lucky guys, you didn't fall into the river. Some almost drown before they even arrive here. And the cave is a scary place to be. You two are really lucky."

That is the first time someone considered him lucky and he thinks that she wouldn't have said that if she knew him.

"No one understands" sneers Evil quietly.

* * *

The blue-haired woman (because she isn't actually a girl anymore) leads the three men up the stairs and Flippy's mind wanders back to the image of her kitchen. A closet, filled with some sort of cleaning agent, had been left open and he noted with rising discomfort that they were all the same brand, size and all etiquettes were facing the exact same direction.

The hallway they walk down seems to drag on forever and only the growing light at the end (how ironic) tells him that they're actually moving forward at all. He hears voices, happy ones, the clattering of colliding glasses, laughing, a drink being poured, more clattering. It seems to echo in his head and the sounds slowly seem to change into different, way less pleasant ones.

Swallowing thickly, the green-haired nut-case tunes any sound out and keeps his gaze concentrated at the soft light.

Petunia reaches for the door-handle and announces "Okay, we're here. We'll discuss what to do with you now."

* * *

"What do you mean, gone? You-You can't be serious! T-They can't be gone!"

"Please, Flippy, calm down! I know that this is very unfortunate—"

"Unfortunate? What do you know about 'unfortunate'!"

"Accept it already! You're not the only one who lost friends! People have been disappearing in this town for quite a while now; they were not the first ones and probably not the last. We can't do anything, we're powerless. Accept it."

"I can't just accept it! I just can't!"

"But you have to! ...Great, now you woke Cup up."

"Ah...I...I didn't mean to...I didn't..."

"It's alright. It is hard at first, but one learns to live with it. Sometimes I think this town is cursed."

"He, he, it probably is."

"Thank god, I already feared I'm the only one who noticed."

"You shouldn't be so happy that I share your opinion."

"Hey, what do you mean by that?"

"War. It changed me. A lot, actually."

"..."

"Do you have any idea where they're disappearing to?"

"If I had I would probably search for them."

"So they left without a trace..."

"It seems so, yes. I'm sorry, Flippy."

* * *

**I know, I'm mean, but it was certainly time to finish this chapter because A) it's past midnight and even though it's weekend, I shouldn't get used to going to sleep so late And B) the chapter-length was simply getting out of hand. Like stated in my Author's Note above, I'm highly motivated lately to write this and if I continue to write now, I won't be able to go to sleep for another hour or so which would be a real pain in the a-_neck, _because I would continue writing this even in my head D8**

**Oh yeah, and that part about Flippy dubbing Evil 'Carl'. That actually has a reason. It's a reference to 'Llamas with hats' which is extremely hilarious xD Those who know it know why I chose 'Carl', Kukuku :D**


	4. In which Cuddles is being stalked

**Ha, I actually kept my promise to update early °^°**

**Bah, I don't really like this chapter, except for the last part. But we need to get to the plot! **

**Yeah, I have written a FxF-One Shot called "Complementary Colors" and I have drawn some picture of the characters :D There'll be more but...I need to change some things about the way they look. Even though I hve three pictures of Flippy/ Evil, I'm still not happy with his haircut and his army uniform ._.**

**http : / deathnotebb . deviantart . com / gallery / 29007576 (Y'know how it works, just type this in without the spaces)**

**Thanks to the ones who have reviewed so far :3 It means a lot to me! **

**By the way, would you please read the note at the end of this chapter and answer the there given question? I didn't put here, so I don't spoil anything... **

* * *

**Queen, you are full fair,...**

The happy chattering stops at an instant, a glass shatters as it is dropped on the ground, though no one except for Petunia possibly notices, seeing as she rushes forward and almost hastily picks up the glass shards.

Four people are gathered around a table on which the momentarily forgotten card game lies.

First there is another girl with bubble-gum pink colored hair that stops at her shoulder blades and a big red ribbon is placed in her hair. Her childish face is frozen, she blinks rabidly and her cards slip out of her grasp.

Opposite from her sits a young man with curly, purple hair. Freckles dust his cheeks and since his mouth is still hanging open, Flippy can see the buckteeth with the rather large gap in between.

Then there is a redheaded female, something that looks suspiciously like oversized dandruffs is entangled in her almost blood-red, spiky hair. She isn't wearing a dress, like the other two girls do, but sports a more boyish attire. She gapes slightly at him and she backs a little away.

And finally, there is the person Flippy recognizes the fastest, because he has barely changed in all those years and because they used to be good friends. Still the slightly curly blond hair, still the same face the girls back then would refer to as 'cute' and this strange blush that seems to cover his cheeks 24/7.

And all of a sudden he can name them all. Giggles, Toothy, Flaky and Cuddles.

* * *

It seems like Lumpy is really not the brightest or simply ignorant or oblivious to all kinds of changes in mood.

"This is Flippy!" he calls dumbly and his voice cuts through the silence like a knife.

Said man nervously glances at the occupants in the room who are still all sitting there, staring at him as if he is a ghost.

Finally, they rise from their seats and walk over to him, surprised, delighted even expression on their faces and that's when they attack him.

"Is that really you, Flippy?" "Wow, you sure have changed!" "So you returned?"

He is so taken a-back that he simply stays silent and lets them pester him with questions. When their first curiosity and their astonishment to see him again pass, they all take a step back and allow him to speak. "Nice to see you all again" the green-haired male eventually says and he feels a smile tugging at his lips.

He feels like laughing out loud, he feels like crying in joy, but something hinders him from doing so. He doesn't know what it is, and he is sure that it can't be Evil...

Evil.

He turns to look at his evil side, to see that he has withdrawn himself from the group and sneers at them from the shadows, his eyes following their movements and he seems to be debating over whether he should try to fight for dominance again and start a killing spree or...do something else, whatever that is.

His former friends observe him too and cringe slightly as Evil growls in disapproval. "W-Who's that?" Toothy speaks up, giving Flippy a questioning glance. He looks at Evil, who returns the stare and dares him to say something, with a mocking smirk that reveals his sharp teeth, which causes the others to recoil.

"It's...hard to explain. He's called Evil" Flippy whispers and tugs lightly at the chain. Most of the group (excluding Lumpy and Flippy himself) shudder at the obvious implication of the name. It is somewhat a tradition that parents give their children names that express their wishes for their child's personality or they refer to their looks. (Had it been his parents' wish that he'd turn into a nutcase? Flippy wonders.) So being named Evil...

Petunia, who suddenly appears between Cuddles and Giggles, informs them with doubt evident in her high-pitched voice "He said that this guy won't do a thing as long as he's around."

"Really?" the blonde asks, his face also reflecting his skepticism. "More or less, yes..." the man in question replies, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "But you shouldn't be careless around us. That could end very unfortunate for you guys..."

His threat has the obviously desired effect as Evil chuckles darkly at the sight of their horrified expressions.

"You have a lot of things to tell us, Flippy" Cuddles (who appears to be the leader) slowly says, his eyes trained on the second personality of his old friend. "But I think we should go first. You're probably already completely confused, aren't you?"

Flaky quickly leaves the room to retrieve another two chairs, while the others sit down on their respective seats again and Flippy hesitatingly takes red-haired girl's one.

* * *

"No one actually knows why this place here exists, nor does anyone know how our worlds are connected. There are three entries to this place: the rabbit hole, the river and the cave."

The former soldier nods at that, having already been given this piece of information.

"The first people who arrived here and founded this town called it Happy Tree Town, after our home, since there are a lot of similarities between this world and the 'real' one. For example the environment, y'know, with the forest next to Happy Tree Town and not far from here is the coast.

There are quite a few shops here, we have a small hospital, but there are no cars except for the ambulance and we don't have cell phones or...well, telephones at all."

"Do you have a police station?" Evil chimes in, startling Cuddles, before he resumes his explanation, but he seems oddly nervous.

"N-Not...really, we don't have an actual police station."

"Then what do you have?" inquires the obnoxious other side of Flippy, and although he sounded genuinely curious, Flippy tells him to stop interrupting the blond male. When said blonde remains silent, Flippy instead asks "Are there any things we should know about? Certain risks? Dangers?"

"You shouldn't go into the forest alone and not even in a group at night, but I think that is kinda obvious. Then...let me see...You are new here, so you and Evil have to register. It should happen not later than tomorrow evening. You see, the government is very strict about that. Giggles?"

The pink-haired girl who has been sipping at her drink looks up. "Could you go with them tomorrow? I have to work." Upon hearing this, her gaze settles on Flippy and she is clearly not ecstatic, but she accepts and she even smiles a little.

"As for the other rules...You should watch out for the HTTP." "HTTP? What the hell's that?" Flippy knits his brows together in confusion and Cuddles sighs. "HTTP stands for 'Happy Tree Town Patrol'. They are there to make sure that nothing bad happens and that no one strays at night. They like to arrest random people they meet on the street when they look like they could cause trouble. And no offense, but..."

He gives Evil and their uniforms a pointed look. "It's fine, really" Flippy reassures him.

"Well, that's about it...now, enough about this. Your turn to tell us what was going on in the last few years. Why are you wearing those cloths, for example?"

At this, his other half raises his head and is suddenly on high alert. His glare that he sends the man is unmistakable one that says "Say something and you're dead".

But Flippy is not scared of him, not really, and he feels all those stares directed at him and he's always had a trouble thinking when he was put under pressure, so he opens his mouth and starts with the time after he'd moved away, with random, insignificant things.

When he reaches the time when he entered the army, his story gets less detailed, with big, gaping holes in the timeline. The others notice, guessing from their slightly furrowed eyebrows, yet no one says something about it. Do they already have an idea why? He just wants to finish with that part of his life, to keep the memories from flooding back and feels this damn tugging again.

When he finishes, he is a little exhausted. He hasn't talked that much in quite a long time.

It is Toothy who (probably unconsciously) asks the dreaded question. "Hm? You still haven't told us just exactly where Evil comes from and what happened back then. And why should we be more careful with those sounds and keep you away from the things you listed? Care to explain?"

The nut-case inhales sharply and lets his hair fall into his eyes.

"You...don't want to talk about it?" the boy guesses.

Evil laughs cruelly at that. "Yes, I wonder why!"

* * *

Cuddles yawns and stretches as he watches Lumpy with Flippy and this... Evil reluctantly trailing behind him.

It had taken some time to find a place for the new arrivers to stay, with most of his friends complaining about Evil (though Petunia had voiced her dislike of their grass and dirt stained cloths), until the oldest of the group finally volunteered to let them live at his house till they have their own one.

He is no doubt happy to see Flippy again, it had been about 14 years since they last met after all, but he can sense that there is something very wrong with him and that he is hiding a secret that is probably connected to Evil.

The war has been exceptionally gruesome, the young man had heard, shortly before he had went to explore the cave with his closest friends Toothy and Giggles, and he is slightly worried for the green-haired fellow's psyche.

He is definitely keeping information from them.

At this, his smile turns bitter. Well, Flippy is not the only who hasn't told the whole story. Cuddles can be a little selfish from time to time, but he is mostly a nice guy and cares for his friends, that's why he didn't say it, at least that's what he justifies it with.

It's their first day, he says to himself. It's not like they won't find out, nah, that's impossible. But he shouldn't destroy his hope to return home so soon. Now, that'd be really mean.

He continues strolling down the lane to his own small house alone, since his girlfriend decided to stay at Petunia's, and as he registers the sound of a person following behind him, he increases his pace and almost runs to shelter.

God, the HTTP can't possibly know already?

Because if they do, _he_ does too and that can turn into one hell of a big problem. Flippy and Evil, as former soldiers, pose a threat, if a minimal one (because Evil was obviously only exaggerating when he said he was so very dangerous), and if they don't keep an eye on them and keep them away from trouble, they would get imprisoned and once again, a friend would be lost.

Only days ago, they have arrested the one they only call The Mole when he was trying to oppose the governor (and he was actually the third one of their small organization). The word 'governor' is a joke, used for that, that monster.

Alone the thought of the blind makes Cuddles feel a little depressed, so he tries to salve his pained conscience.

'He had it coming. He did it because he wanted to. I have nothing to do with it, nothing at all. I shouldn't be worrying so much. He had it coming...' he reasons and apparently, his conscience is satisfied with that, and it feels like a weight was lifted from his shoulders.

* * *

Flippy can't sleep.

Nope. No chance. It just won't work.

Usually, he doesn't have any trouble falling asleep, and **damn**, he is one heavy sleeper. Yet every time he drifts off to sleep, something will startle him and he's once again wide awake.

This time, he knows that this strange behavior is actually triggered by his evil 'brother'.

They are sleeping in the same room, seeing at the chain attached to their wrists doesn't allow anything else.

The other man sits on the bed Lumpy has provided and doesn't even think about resting. He is simply sitting there, back straight and all senses on high alert.

Finally no longer able to just lie there, trying and failing to sleep, the original calls out "What are you trying to do?"

With a last stare at the door, under which a little bit of light seeps through, just enough to make out the faces of one another, Evil shifts his intense glare to his creator and hisses "Isn't that obvious? I'm keeping watch. We can't trust this guy. Or any of your _friends_" he spits out the last word "for that matter."

Flippy lets out an exasperated sigh. Evil is practically calling his new-slash-old friends enemies. "That's ridiculous. We know them, they're my friends. Why should they try to harm us?"

"Oh, do we? How would _you_ know? You haven't seen them in years! Look at yourself, you have changed quite a lot, now haven't you?"

That is true, but...

"How can you know that they won't try to kill us? Have you forgotten? Friends are not forever, no matter what they might say! They are a bunch of traitors! The only ones we can trust are ourselves! That's why I'm keeping watch. Moron. You are too careless, like always."

Evil, with an extremely serious look on his face, twitches again, a habit he has apparently developed over the course of being in possession of his own body. It is barely there, but every once in a while, he would twitch slightly. It is a quite unnerving sight.

Well, he has a point. What does he know about those people? Can it be that they have changed for the worse?

It isn't as ridiculous to stay awake and watch out anymore to him.

Evil is almost always right, he's saved his life so many times before. Evil wouldn't lie to him. No, he wouldn't do that.

But...it could be Evil only being paranoid just as well.

Now, which story should he believe?

* * *

**Whut? Evil being a little bit nice (arguably) to Flippy? I have my own thoughts about his personality and they will be an important part of the story and the plot. I personally don't think that Flippy and Evil necessarily hate each other, it's more like a strange 'I don't really like you, but you're not THAT bad, so you better don't die' sort of relationship (if that makes ANY sense). Yes, I've seen Double Whammy and Autopsy Turvy, but I think this 'fight' was the typical 'only the strongest survive' type of fight, seeing as Flippy won and thus didn't flip out anymore, indicating that Evil was gone.  
I put serious thoughts into fictional characters personalities. You may call me Miss Nerd now.**

**Then...why Cuddles?, you may ask. I chose him because he seems like someone who makes friends easily and from the characters he seems like one of the best suited for the position. Lumpy is the oldest and thus has more experience and knowledge, but he's too dumb. The others are either struggling with personal problems (like Petunia's OCD) or it simply doesn't suit their personality (for example Flaky, who is a little too paranoid and timid, she is more a character that follows, not leads)**

**Now, important question: The 'governor'...the Tiger General? An OC? Someone else from the HTF-universe, and when yes, who? Please tell me, because that is really important and I can't really decide.**


End file.
